Depolo v. Board of Supervisors

105 F. Supp. 3d 484, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64405, 2015 WL 2365565
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 18, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 14-6689
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 105 F. Supp. 3d 484 (Depolo v. Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Depolo v. Board of Supervisors, 105 F. Supp. 3d 484, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64405, 2015 WL 2365565 (E.D. Pa. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

DALZELL, District Judge.

Ham radio aficionado Jeffrey J. DePolo sued the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors and its members (collectively, the “Board”) and the Township’s Zoning Hearing Board of Appeals and its mem[486]*486bers (collectively, the “ZHBA”) over their refusal to let him build a 180-foot radio tower on his property.1 He contends that federal law as articulated in an FCC regulation and a Pennsylvania state law adopting the federal standard both preempt the township’s antenna height restrictions. The Board and ZHBA filed separate motions to dismiss and, for the reasons set forth below, we will grant both motions.

Because we grant the defendants’ motions dismissing this action, we will deny as moot the motion for reconsideration which certain of DePolo’s neighbors filed after we denied them leave to intervene in this action.

I. Standard of Review

A defendant moving to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) bears the burden of proving that a plaintiff has failed to state a claim for relief. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6); see also Hedges v. United States, 404 F.3d 744, 750 (3d Cir.2005). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the sufficiency of the allegations contained in the complaint and “[t]he question, then, is whether the facts alleged in the complaint, even if trué, fail to support the claim.” Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1 F.3d 176, 183 (3d Cir.1993) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). As the Supreme Court held in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), in order to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, tó ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on. its face’,” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). A claim is plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged,” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678,129 S.Ct. 1937.

Our Court of Appeals obliges district courts considering a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) to engage in a two-part analysis:

First, the factual and legal elements of a claim should be separated. The district court must accept all of the complaint’s well-pleaded facts as true, but may disregard any legal conclusions. Second, a district court must then determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint are sufficient to show that the plaintiff has a plausible claim for relief.

Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 210-11 (3d Cir.2009) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679,129 S.Ct. 1937).

When deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court generally looks to the facts' alleged in the complaint and its attachments, without reference to any other part of the record. See Jordan v. Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel, 20 F.3d 1250, 1261 (3d Cir.1994). All well-pleaded allegations of the complaint must be taken as true and interpreted in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and all inferences must be drawn in his favor. See McTernan v. City of York, PA., 577 F.3d 521, 526 (3d Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). To survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff must allege facts that “raise a right to relief above the speculative level oh the assumption that the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact).” Victaulic Co. v. Tieman, 499 F.3d 227, 234 (3d Cir.2007) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

[487]*487II. Factual And Procedural Background

We draw our recital of the factual background from the plaintiffs complaint and the factual findings in the Zoning Board’s decision denying DePolo’s application for what effectively would bé a 190-foot tower, but granting him a permit for a 65-foot tower. DePolo appended the Zoning ■ Board decision as an Exhibit to the complaint.

On November 25, 2013, the plaintiff prepared and filed a request for a building permit for a “180-foot self-supporting antenna system” in order to pursue his amateur radio operations from his residence on Horseshoe Trail, Malvern, Pennsylvania.2 Cmplt. at ¶¶ 14, 24. Because of the many tall trees on his property and the hilly terrain, that height was the “minimum height necessary” to permit communication on the radio frequencies of interest to him. Id, at ¶¶28, 29. On February 4, 2014, after the Zoning Officer denied his permit, he appealed to the ZHBA requesting a permit for an antenna installation in excess of the 35-foot ordinance limit. Id. at ¶ 25; see also Ex. A at 26. The local zoning ordinance at issue, Section 208-18.G of the Tredyffrin Township Zoning Ordinance, establishes area, bulk and height restrictions for the Rl/2 residential district in which DePolo lives and provides that “[t]he height of any building shall not exceed 35 feet.” Ex. A at 11. Section 208-113, Building height projections, provides in relevant part that “antennas and similar projections shall be included in calculating the height of a building,” with certain conditions. Id.

The ZHBA held public hearings on March 27, April 30, May 5, May 22, and June 26, 2014 to take evidence and consider DePolo’s application. Cmplt. at ¶26. The ZHBA reviewed the Zoning Officer’s denial of DePolo’s permit application and the Officer’s offer to allow DePoloto to build a 65-foot tower in recognition of a Pennsylvania law fostering amateur radio operation. ■ Ex. A at 19. DePolo contended at the hearing that the Zoning Officer erred in denying the permit for a 180-foot tower. Id. He argued that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rule known as PRB-1, Federal Preemption of State and Local Regulations Pertaining to Amateur Radio Facilities, 101 F.C.C.2d 952 (1985), adopted at 47 C.F.R. § 97.15(b), (hereinafter “PRB-1”) preempts the Township from restricting antenna height. Id. He declined to reduce the height of the proposed tower he sought to build. Id. at 15.

The ZHBA granted party status to De-Polo’s Horseshoe Trail neighbors, Schuylkill Township, the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior — representing Valley Forge National Historical Park (“Valley Forge”) — and an association of 800 homeowners. Id. at 2.

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Related

J. DePolo v. Bd. of Supervisors of Tredyffrin Twp. and M. Heaberg, K. Mayock
168 A.3d 387 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)

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Bluebook (online)
105 F. Supp. 3d 484, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64405, 2015 WL 2365565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/depolo-v-board-of-supervisors-paed-2015.